Reports and Retractions

Reporting a Case

As a member of the University community, if you have knowledge of a possible Honor Offense, you should contact an Honor Advisor immediately. During this conversation, the Honor Advisor can answer any questions you might have about the criteria of an Honor Offense or the Honor case process. The Honor Advisor, however, will not tell you whether a case should be reported. If you believe an Honor Offense may have occurred, you should report the case. Though the Advisor will answer all questions, the decision to report belongs to the potential Reporter only.

Calling an Honor Advisor in no way binds you to report a case. However, please be aware that once a case has been reported it can not be rescinded. It will be made clear to you by the Honor Advisor at which point your conversation ends and the official report begins. If the report involves monetary disputes, you may want to consider Small Claims Court. The Honor Committee is not a collection agency and can not force a student to make restitution. If you would like to speak with an Honor Advisor, contact the Honor office at 924-7602. All discussions with an Honor Advisor are strictly confidential. You can also report a case by contacting an Honor Committee representative.

Filing a Conscientious Retraction

A Conscientious Retraction allows a student who has committed a dishonest act to admit his or her actions and accept the respective consequences without leaving the Community of Trust. This admission, however, must occur before the student gains any knowledge that someone might suspect him/her of an Honor Offense. A student with the integrity and courage to come forward with a good-faith retraction has thereby reaffirmed his personal commitment to Honor and is allowed to remain in the Community.

To make a Conscientious Retraction, a student should contact an Honor Advisor immediately. After discussing the situation with an Honor Advisor, the student should submit a written statement admitting to an act of Lying, Cheating, or Stealing. The Retraction must be signed and dated by all parties affected by the dishonorable act, and the student must accept the consequences of the action as delineated by the other individuals involved.

Upon submission to the Honor Committee, the Conscientious Retraction will be reviewed for completeness by the Vice-Chair for Investigations and will be returned to the student for changes if necessary. The completed Retraction will then be stored in a confidential Honor Committee file. This Retraction will only be examined again if the dishonorable act is reported.

Only when an investigation is complete will the validity of the Conscientious Retraction be determined by the Investigative Panel. If, under the standard of more likely than not, the Investigative Panel decides that the retraction was completed in good faith, the conscientious retraction can then serve as a complete defense, and the case will not proceed to trial.

If you wish to file a Conscientious Retraction, or to speak with Honor Advisor, please contact the Honor Offices at (434) 924-7602.